[rmdashrfstar]

“…an object forced to move faster than its terminal velocity will, upon release, slow down to this constant velocity.”

https://www.britannica.com/science/terminal-velocity

IIUC, the meteorite was forced or “released” into its “high magnitude inertial vector” initially, and would continue to decelerate as it approached to the surface… whether it did much of that on the way down is a different story!

[mr_toad]

A lot depends on the initial velocity and angle of impact.

Considering that the earths atmosphere isn’t much more than 100km thick, and a meteor could in theory come in head-on with an initial velocity of 70km per second, there isn’t going to much time for it to slow down.

[bagels]

70km/s is interstellar material

[MauranKilom]

Air resistance is to first approximation quadratic with velocity. High initial velocities lead to very high braking force, so it wouldn't have 70 km/s for very long. Also see surrounding comments for more related physics.